Martin Lunn, of Earby Astronomical Society, tells us what to look out for in the skies in June. He will be talking about the summer sky at a meeting of the society on Friday, June 30 at All Saints Church, Earby, from 7.30pm to 9pm.

THIS is the month, when, on Wednesday, June 21, summer officially begins in Britain. It is also the month with the shortest period of darkness, making it a tricky month for viewing the night sky. To add to the problems there is no proper darkness at all whenever the Moon is near full.

The Plough has now shifted to a point somewhat westward of the overhead point but is still very high up. The North Star can of course be found by using the two stars in the handle of the plough, which are usually referred to as the pointers, a line drawn from them will point to a star all on its own which is the North Star.

The ‘W’ of Cassiopeia has gained height in the east. The three stars that form the Summer Triangle, Altair in Aquila the Eagle, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan and Vega in Lyra the Lyre, are now all over the horizon and will dominate the sky during the summer months.

Arcturus in Bootes the Herdsman is now at its highest, while the other two mains stars of spring, Spica in Virgo the virgin and Regulus in Leo the Lion, are now dropping westwards. The large faint constellations of Hercules, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer and Serpens the Serpent occupy much of the south eastern sky now and will be around in the southern sky during the summer months.

However, there is a bright newcomer, a bright red star called Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, appearing low in the south east. We will look at Antares and the Summer Triangle stars in more detail next month.

The early summer months are the best time to look for ghostly electric blue Noctilucent Clouds (NLC), which can be seen low in the northern sky around an hour or so before and after midnight. The Noctilucent Clouds (the name comes from the Latin and means ‘night shining’) are extremely high altitude micro meteorite particles surrounded by ice. They typically form at heights of around 50-60 miles. We only see NLC at this time of the year, due to the angle at which sunlight strikes them. This is because in June the Sun is only just below the horizon, which means that the light from the Sun reaches these clouds at a very shallow angle and causes them to be illuminated.

The planets in June

It is a pity that the period of night time is so short in June because this year we are being treated to the sight of two giants. These are the planets Jupiter and Saturn. High in the south west you can see a very bright light in the sky which is Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. It is difficult to miss because it is so bright. In June it is in the constellation of Virgo. Fainter than Jupiter but still bright, the white star to the left of it is Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. If you have binoculars, look at Jupiter and you should be able to see up to four small dots around the planet which are the large moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

The second giant in the sky is Saturn the famous ringed planet. Saturn is the bright dirty yellow looking object low down in the south east. It is in the southern part of the large but faint constellation of Ophiuchus. Although you can’t see the wonderful ring system through binoculars, if you do have a small telescope you will be able to see the spectacular main rings. Although Saturn is easy to see you will notice that it is much fainter than Jupiter. Saturn is smaller than Jupiter and it is also much further away.

If you are an early riser and up before sunrise you can see a bright white dot low in the east which is the planet Venus, or, as it sometimes called, the ‘Morning Star’. Venus rises just before sunrise. The other naked eye planets, Mercury and Mars, are too close to the Sun and cannot be seen.

Meteor showers

During June there is one meteor shower worth looking out for, but it is very unpredictable. The June Bootids should peak on the night of June 27. Normally only a few Bootids are seen every year. However on June 27, 1998, observers saw as many as 100 meteors per hour. This wasn't the first time: similar spectacular outbursts from Bootes had been recorded in 1916, 1921 and 1927. The most recent outburst occurred in 2004 when around 50 meteors per hour were seen.

Meteors, or shooting stars as some people call them, are the remains of comet dust left behind as a comet travels around the Sun. If the Earth passes through such streams of comet dust we see lots of meteors. The June Bootids, which appear to come from the constellation of Bootes, are named after the comet Pons-Winnecke which orbits the Sun once every 6.3 years. It was originally discovered by Jean Louis Pons in France in 1819 and then re-discovered by Friedrich Winnecke in Germany in 1858.

If it is clear on June 27 it will be worthwhile having a look to see if the Bootids are having one of their unpredictable outbursts.

Phases of the Moon for June

First Quarter 1; Full Moon 9; , Last Quarter 17; New Moon 24.

On June 8, the almost full moon forms a triangle with Antares and Saturn.

On June 21, the Moon lies below Venus in morning twilight.

This month’s full moon is called the ‘The Strawberry Moon’. The strawberry was regarded as the very best of the berries that could be grown in Britain. They had a very short season which would typically see them at their best during June.

The Summer Solstice occurs at 05.24 am on June 21. This is when the Sun is at its highest point in the sky during the year.